Trump hires policy-focused head speechwriter

Ross Worthington is expected to be President-elect Donald Trump’s head speechwriter in the White House, according to three people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

It may be an indication that there will be a heavy focus on policy in the second Trump administration. Worthington and Vince Haley, the incoming director of the domestic policy council, crafted policy-infused speeches for Trump on the campaign trail, as well as the first drafts of scripts Trump used to record the policy videos that appeared on his campaign website.

Trump praised his speechwriters but frequently went off script and had a habit of freelancing large portions of his speeches before returning to the teleprompter.

Both Worthington and Haley worked under Stephen Miller — the incoming deputy chief of staff for policy — in the first Trump White House, co-managing the White House speechwriting shop.

Worthington was deputy communications director for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign and later authored a book with Gingrich.